WWIII
by mustlovecat
Summary: DL One Shot Mac thinks he's heard it all ...


**A/N **Lucky #7! My plot bunnies are still going strong, but I fear you all might be getting weary – I'm know the last couple fics have not been as good as the first few I put up, so from here on out, I'm only going to post once I'm really sure about something, so they might not be coming as quickly. Anyway, thank you for the continued support and encouragement. I love you guys!

**A/N 2 **This takes place just days after my fic Hormones.

**Disclaimer **– Still don't own anything. sigh 

"You sure you don't want me to go in there with you?" Danny asked as he and Lindsay stood outside Mac's office.

Their superior was busy wading through the numerous reports that had accumulated in his in-box, oblivious to the duo standing outside his door.

"No, I think it would be better if I do this myself," she replied, taking a deep breath, praying for courage.

"You're just afraid I'm going to take his side when he suggests you take it easy," her husband argued.

"Well, when it comes down to it, we both know you're more afraid of Mac than you are of me," she kidded.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Not so sure right now to be honest."

Lindsay chuckled, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Wish me luck."

He looked at her seriously. "You don't need luck, Montana. I'll be in Trace." He squeezed her shoulder then headed off down the hall towards the Trace Lab to continue working on the case he and Stella had been assigned earlier in the day.

For a moment, Lindsay just stood there as if her feet were cemented to the ground. What if Mac did insist that she take it easy? She loved her job. There was no way she could handle it if she was not allowed to participate in every aspect of her work as long as humanly possible.

Finally, she clutched the stack of papers she had brought with her tightly and rapped on Mac's door.

He glanced up and waved her in when he saw who had deigned to interrupt him. "What is it, Lindsay?" he asked a little more abruptly than intended as she tentatively entered the office.

"Oh, is this a bad time? I'll come back," she said quickly, turning to leave.

"No, it's fine. Come in. Sit down."

She hung back for a moment, before finally empowering herself to walk over and sit down in one of the visitor's chairs.

"So, what's up?" Mac asked her again.

"I, uh – Well, see, it's like this. I'm – Well, Mac, I'm pregnant," she finally confessed.

He was silent, allowing the news to penetrate. Of course, he already knew. He had been waiting for this meeting for over a week, and now that it had come, he was mildly amused. "Wow, that's, uh – That's great news, Lindsay! Congratulations!" he offered. "To both you _and _Danny. Speaking of which, why isn't he here, too? I'd think this would be something you'd want to announce together."

"Well, I, uh – I'm –" She furrowed her brow, disappointed in her lack of articulation. "I just thought it was something we should discuss, just the two of us. I mean, this obviously has the potential to affect my career."

"Obviously. There will be certain restrictions once –"

"Right. Restrictions. Look, I have been doing some research. In one study, it was shown that …" Before Mac could say _anything_, Lindsay was presenting every single case study that had been done in support of pregnant women working in law enforcement, working in lab settings, simply _working_. With each argument, she offered a hardcopy of the study to back her up. Her confidence grew with each millimetre that Mac's eyebrows rose.

"So, as you can see …" she finished.

Mac was a little overwhelmed. "Yes. I see. Listen, I will take all of this under advisement. In the meantime, as long as you're feeling well, you can continue with all of your duties."

"Thanks, Mac."

He nodded. "Of course." He smiled. "I'm very happy for you and Danny. This really is wonderful news."

She smiled, feeling relieved. "Thanks. I'll let you get back to work." She stood and headed for the door. "Oh, Mac?"

"Yes?"

"How long have you known?"

Had he been drinking coffee, he would have choked on it. As it was, he stammered for a moment. "Uh, what? I don't – What are you talking about?"

"If you _didn't _know, Danny would have insisted on coming in here with me, if just to see your reaction. If you _didn't _know, there would have been a lot more arguing. You were prepared for this entire discussion."

"I'm a Marine. I'm always prepared."

She laughed. "No, those are the Boy Scouts not the Marines."

"Look, because the last thing I want is bloodshed in my lab, rest assured, Danny did not tell me. I figured it out. I'm just glad you finally felt you could come to me."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I'll see you later." She nodded at him, then turned and left the office.

Mac sat back with a sigh. As happy as he was for her and Danny, he was going to be sorry to lose her for whatever length of time would be required, both during the end of her pregnancy and during her maternity leave. She was one of the hires of which he was most proud. His team was a cohesive unit that worked well together and usually managed to win and see justice served. Losing one of their own, if only for a brief period of time, was always difficult.

Suddenly remembering something Danny had said the week before, about Lindsay being slightly hormonal, he decided he had better track his other exceptional hire down and give him a warning. He stood, slipped on his suit jacket and headed out through the lab.

Turning down the corridor leading to the Trace Lab, Mac stopped in his tracks as he saw Lindsay enter ahead of him. "This is not good."

"What's going on, Mac?" Flack asked as he stepped up beside his colleague in the hallway.

"Remember when we were in that building, just before the bomb went off, the feeling we both had in that split second beforehand?"

Don nodded slowly.

Mac gestured towards Trace. "There's about to be an explosion, and I'm not sure Danny's going to make it out alive."

Flack chuckled. "Anyway we can head this off at the pass?"

Mac raised his eyebrows. "You ever been on the bad side of a pregnant woman?"

"Right. I hear ya. Wow, look at the time. I'm pretty sure there's _someone_ out there committing an indictable offence. See ya!"

Mac laughed as Flack headed off as quickly as he possibly could in the opposite direction. Leave it to the man who had never been married. Despite his warning to Don, though, he headed down the hall to see if he could quell the third world war about to rage between two of his best CSI's.

Reaching the Trace Lab, he tentatively opened the door and walked inside, just in time to hear Danny say defensively, "Please don't relegate me to the couch, Montana. I didn't say a word, I swear. He just guessed. And it's not like I went and told him it's twins."

"_Twins_?"

Danny glanced up and Lindsay spun on her heels, both shocked to find Mac standing there, his expression betraying his belief that his ears had just deceived him.

"Uh, okay, _that_ I might've told him," Danny muttered.


End file.
